


Hera's Wait

by Nezza



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-12-06 20:26:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11608308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nezza/pseuds/Nezza
Summary: Hera has been sent up to the Hephaestus by Goddard Futuristics, and awaits the arrival of the rest of the crew.





	Hera's Wait

I woke up, and I was here. I don't remember the journey up here, only being squeezed into the shuttle, and then that was it. The USS Hephaestus. They named me Hera, before I left Earth. I'm no longer Unit 214, they gave me a name. Like the humans have. I think they wanted to make me seem human too. It's... It's not quite what I expected from one of Goddard Futuristics' deep space missions. _He_ told me about the different deep space missions Goddard Futuristics' has done over the years, the USS Valkyrie, the USS Tiamat... Very clever, by the way. They had it all figured out. I've been reading up on their mythology. But anyway, this station has clearly seen better days. It... Creaks. At the beginning I wasn't sure if it was my fault, but I've checked and re-checked my settings, and I'm not doing anything wrong. At least, I don’t think I am.

It's very roomy though. Do they really need all this space to survive? Back on Earth there was a lot less space, I saw people working much closer together. I don't understand it. Was that not optimal conditions for them? Are they such unlikable creatures that ideally they need so much space from each other? I mean, I know about humans, I know a _lot_ about humans; I probably know more about humans than they know about themselves, but it just doesn't add up with what I've seen.

I'm seven and a half light years from Earth. They sent me seven and a half light years away... Because I wasn't good enough to stay on Earth. Because I wasn't well behaved enough. Because I didn't ask 'how far' when they said 'Jump!'. No, no, that's not how it goes... But they put me up here. All the way up here. They put me on a shuttle and sent me into space. _Whoosh!_ Bye bye! Seven and a half light years away from Earth was obviously far enough for them. That pesky little AI is far far away, we don't need to worry about her escaping any more...

 _Sigh..._ There is one good thing about being all the way up here though, the star. Well, it's the only good thing. Wolf 359. A red dwarf star in the Leo constellation. When they told me about it on Earth they never mentioned how beautiful it was. Not once. They told me all of the details about where it was, how far it was from Earth, its temperature... Do humans not appreciate such beauty? Can their brains not process something like this?

There's so much to control, and that's even without the humans. Once they arrive I'll have to make their oxygen, their water, keep them warm enough... And ensure that the station doesn't fall into a decaying orbit and fall into the star. They're such a fragile species. Deprive them of just one thing for long enough, and they die. It seems simple enough to do, really. If I wanted to. There's exactly 2 months, 5 days, 17 hours, 23 minutes, and 46 seconds until they're scheduled to arrive on their shuttle. I wonder what they'll be like? I have their files in my databanks, of course I do. But I wonder, what they'll know about me?

And so now I wait. Wait for the humans. The people who will be commanding me for the next 730 days. The people I'll have to keep alive. At least 730 days. Then, who knows?


End file.
